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Learn how to make floating ornaments the EASY way with a Cricut. I show you three different ways to do it, including a photo ornament!

Today we’re making what’s known as floating ornaments. No, that doesn’t mean that they float about in a pool of water! Thought that might look cool! No, It means they have an image INSIDE the clear ornament just appearing to float there as if by magic. Now last year I made a floating ornament the hard way — I took a clamshell ornament and hot glued this pretty paper scene inside it. But today I’m going to show you a MUCH easier way to get an image to float inside a clear ornament. In fact, I’m going to show you THREE different ways to make easy floating ornaments on a Cricut.
 
So you can make a floating ornament from nearly any type of ornament that has a smooth and clear exterior, like the ones on this tree. You just need to be able to get inside the ornament somehow. What you may want to avoid is an ornament with a faceted, textured, or less transparent exterior, like this one, because it’ll be very hard to see your floating image inside.
 
But you can use any size of ornament. I went out to the store and found all the sizes of clear ornaments available — everything from round ones that are 100 mm, 80 mm, and 60 mm to these flatter oval ornaments at 70 mm and 60 mm to these tiny little 40 mm ornaments. Even this lightbulb shaped ornament would work!
 
I’ve taken all of these commonly-shaped ornaments and created a series of ornament templates for you to use to create floating ornaments yourself. And you’ll use these templates to create your interior image — anything from a photo to text to a design, or any combination. And I’m going to show you exactly how to do that in each of the three ways.
 
Common Ornament Sizes for my templates to make easy floating ornaments on a Cricut
 
For this project, you’ll need your ornaments — glass or plastic — and some transparency film, acetate, vinyl, an/or paper. You’ll also want to download my ornament templates so you don’t have to guess at the size and shape to use for your project. You’ll find those templates free in my resource library

Many thanks to the many readers who asked that I explain floating ornaments (Lee R., Vicki P., Bobbi D., Janelle C., Laura G., Maureen R., Kathy V., Jill C., Candy P., Tonya, Ericka R., Peggy B., Jenise G., Claudette, Rhonda B., Denice M., and Sarah B.). Each person who contributed this project idea will receive an extra entry for your idea (I am keeping track on this on my end). And don’t forget, you can suggest project ideas for this Challenge here and receive entries to win one of our awesome prizes, including a Cricut Maker!

Key concepts taught in the video tutorial include how to slice, how to Print Then Cut, how to insert an image into an ornament, and how to fix an issue.

See exactly how to make my Easy Floating Ornaments in this tutorial video below:

Ready to make some amazing floating ornaments? Let’s do this! This post contains some affiliate links for your convenience (which means if you make a purchase after clicking a link I will earn a small commission but it won’t cost you a penny more)! Read my full disclosure policy.

Materials for the Easy Floating Ornaments

How to Make Easy Floating Ornaments

To get started, download my floating ornament templates and designs (Design #121) from my free resource library (you can get a password for it at the bottom of this page). If you’re going to cut the templates and designs out on your cutting machine, upload the file to your design software. If you’re not sure how to upload an SVG cut file to Cricut Design Space, watch this helpful video training series I made. If you’re on an iPhone or iPad, here’s how to download and upload SVG files to the Cricut Design Space app.

For complete assembly instructions, watch the video linked above! 

Get my free SVG cut files and patterns for the Floating Ornaments

If you make these easy floating ornaments on a Cricut, please share a photo in our Facebook group, email it to me at [email protected], or tag me on social media with #makershowandtell.

See all of the projects, tutorials and free designs in The Great Maker Show and Tell Challenge! There is one for each day of the 25 Days of Christmas! This is my gift to you for the tremendous support, enthusiasm, and love you’ve shown to me and my little blog over the past two years. To “open” a gift, hover over the day’s image and click the download icon.

[ess_grid alias=”25days2″]

Love,

JenniferMaker.com

Want to remember this? Save the Easy Floating Ornaments to Your Favorite DIY Pinterest Board!

Make Easy Floating Ornaments on a Cricut the Easy Way with three different methods, including a photo ornament! #cricut #holidaydecor #ornaments #circutexplore #handmade

Learn how to make floating ornaments the EASY way with a Cricut. I show you three different ways to do it, including a photo ornament! #cricut #cricutmade #cricutmaker #cricutexplore #svg #svgfile #Christmas

Jennifer Marx is a designer, an enthusiastic crafter, a lifelong teacher, and a proud overcomer of a variety of life's challenges. In her spare time she loves to play D&D and video games, garden, sew costumes, and go to Disney. She lives a full, happy life in beautiful Ann Arbor, Michigan with her partner Greg, her daughter Alexa, their two dogs, Hunter and Chloe, and their sassy orange cat, Butterscotch.

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15 Comments

    2. Hi Renae! In the materials list of all of my designs, I have now listed the number that corresponds with the file in my library. For example, the file for this project is #121 in my library.

      Reply

    1. Hi Rosalie! You will want to make sure it is selected as a print from the fill drop-down box in Design Space.

      Reply

  4. Hi! I really love the floating ornaments, that I made 25! Now I notice they are curling :-(. I used the Maker, Vellum sheets, and the flat ornaments using the template above. What did I do wrong?

    Reply

    1. Heat and moisture are the most common reasons why vellum will curl, but it sure is pretty to use! To keep vellum from curling, I have found using a spray adhesive works best to create a light and even coat.

      Reply

  5. How can I print an entire sheet of multiple images on a sheet??? Wanting to use the whole page and do multiple ornaments

    Reply

  6. I made the floating ornament and the picture I printed was on 2-1/2″ transparency paper, what size ornament do I get?????

    Reply

    1. Most ornaments are sold by mm size. 2.5″ in millimeters is 63.5 so I would go a little bigger than that or go with 3-inch diameter ornaments, Mary.

      Reply

  7. How can you determine the size of your ornaments? I purchased a 6 pack at Micheals but they do not have the size written on the box.

    Reply

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